Google’s experiment with showing housing information directly in search results is resurfacing, months after an earlier test caused a brief shockwave through the housing brokerage industry.
However, HouseCanary, Google’s data and intermediary partner in this effort, says the experience will remain a limited pilot rather than a full public rollout.
HouseCanary spokesperson Chris Rediger told Inman on Monday that the company currently has three MLSs offering listings to pilots: CRMLS, San Diego MLS and My State MLS. CRMLS serves more than 93,000 real estate professionals in 39 associations, boards and MLS organizations, while San Diego MLS serves the San Diego region and My State MLS bills itself as a national MLS that allows members to list and search properties anywhere in the U.S. House Canary is also in talks with other MLSs, Rediger said.
“This is still a limited Google pilot/testing program and not a full rollout,” Rediger told Inman, adding that the company will communicate more broadly to the industry “as things progress beyond the pilot stage.”
The new attention came after real estate analyst Mike Delpreto shared in a blog post on Monday that Google’s real estate listings are “back,” along with a screenshot showing a sponsored Google search experience of homes for sale in Miami, Los Angeles, and Cleveland.
That experience is not visible to everyone. A member of Inman’s editorial staff was able to reproduce the results posted by DelPrete, highlighting HouseCanary’s description of the tests as limited and unevenly distributed.
EXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja also confirmed to Inman that he had access to Google’s listing experience and provided Inman with a screenshot of an eXp listing appearing in a mobile Google search result for “homes for sale in Miami.”
Pareja said eXp’s involvement dates back to March, when eXp announced a partnership with ComeHome, HouseCanary’s consumer search portal. He said eXp will send all of its active MLS listings to Google’s pilot, along with the NextHome listings it acquired on May 7.
“Most of the beta markets just have eXp listed,” Pareja said, but added that he doesn’t think that’s an ideal consumer experience. “That’s not the goal.”
Pareja framed the move as another way to make listings widely available and non-exclusive, rather than an attempt to pull listings away from MLSs and portals. He said he hopes the upcoming active listings will be registered on the MLS and then widely distributed through IDX and other non-proprietary channels.
“I believe in non-exclusivity,” Pareja said. “I’m not trying to exclude anyone. I believe in transparency.”
Pareja said he hopes eXp and NextHome listings will appear on all portals simultaneously, with Google acting as another high-profile channel rather than an exclusive destination.
“That’s maximum exposure. That’s maximum visibility,” Pareja said.
HouseCanary Court Agent and MLS
HouseCanary also launched a public page inviting agents and MLSs to participate in the pilot, describing the initiative as a way to bring MLS listings directly into Google Search. The page states that with participating MLSs, attribution and click-to-contact features are available to resellers for free. It also says that active listings can appear in Google search results with “no advertising costs.”
An example of HouseCanary Google integration seen by an Inman staff reporter.
Eight live markets have been identified in the pilot page, with MLS participation varying by region. In California, CRMLS and My State MLS are listed as participating in the Greater Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles, while Greater San Diego also includes the San Diego MLS. In the remaining pilot markets of Greater New York, Austin, Chicago, Miami, and Cleveland, My State MLS is listed as a participating MLS.
This move is notable because HouseCanary is not just a data analytics company, but also a licensed broker in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Its status as an intermediary has been at the center of the debate surrounding Google’s pilot. When the experiment first surfaced late last year, critics questioned whether HouseCanary’s use of IDX listing data to power Google search placements, from display to advertising, could have implications for broker consent and MLS advertising rules.
Meanwhile, House Canary said the pilot is dependent on MLS participation. Its pilot page tells agents that they must join the MLS in order for their listings to appear on Google, and invites them to submit their contact information so HouseCanary can claim the MLS on their behalf. And with national MLSs already participating in the pilot, My State MLS is touted as a way for agents to get approved active listings to Google search faster.
Rediger similarly told Inman that users can access the listing directly through Google search results, but only on a mobile device or a browser that renders a mobile experience. He said the pilot is market dependent, will not appear in every search, and will continue to be subject to impression and distribution limits and controls.
HouseCanary’s page also states that Google does not retain listing data for use in AI or LLM products or other Google services beyond agreed upon placement.
Multiple paths for consumers
The lead routing structure also appears to be more nuanced than a simple portal-style handoff.
Rediger said listing agents have the option to click and contact them directly within the Google experience. But he also said that there may be agents within the interface who advertise through Google Local Services Ads, and those agents pay Google for Local Services Ads.
“Users should try out the experience directly because there are multiple interaction paths,” Rediger said.
This distinction could be important for MLSs and portals. Many of the early concerns about the pilot centered on whether Google and HouseCanary were simply displaying listing information, turning IDX listings into paid advertising inventory, or moving closer to the lead generation model dominated by portals like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com.
HouseCanary declined to comment on specific intermediary participation, saying it would wait until the pilot is further along before discussing how the business model will ultimately evolve. The company also deferred questions regarding its participation in CRMLS and San Diego MLS to the MLS itself. CRMLS declined to comment on its participation in the pilot.
Portal impact remains unresolved
Google’s pilot first attracted industry attention late last year after HouseCanary’s ComeHome listings began appearing at the top of some mobile Google search results in some markets. At the time, House Canary described the effort as a “controlled experiment by Google” and said it had notified the MLSs involved in the test.
The pilot also raised immediate questions about whether Google could eventually become a direct competitor to search portals like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com, especially if the company combines listed inventory with paid agent referrals, tour requests, or other lead generation features. Other industry players are raising deeper questions about whether home discovery itself can move closer to search behavior and buyer intent than traditional portal browsing.
But concerns about Google being able to retain more of the consumer experience within its search results aren’t limited to real estate. Across media and other search-dependent industries, Google has faced increased scrutiny for showing more information directly in searches, raising concerns that users will stay on Google before clicking on the websites that rely on that traffic. The question for portals is whether home searches can follow a similar path, with more discovery happening on Google before users go to Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com or a brokerage site.
Analysts at the time, like Victor Lund, managing partner at WAV Group, were divided about the threat to Zillow and other portals. While some saw little immediate financial risk, others saw the test as a potential long-term challenge if Google expands the experience nationally and moves further into real estate search.
Email AJ LaTrace
